Stanley Healthcare has released a new version of its Hugs infant protection solution, adding new remote monitoring capabilities and boosting the Wi-Fi platform so that newborns can be monitoring throughout the hospital.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company has modified its Wi-Fi-based RTLS platform, designed by AeroScout, to work with standard Wi-Fi in the hospital setting, enabling staff to track a tagged newborn in any part of the hospital where Wi-Fi coverage exists.
“With the new generation of Hugs, infants are monitored virtually everywhere and can be quickly located, even during transport, transfer and treatment in ancillary departments,” said Jason Santamaria, president of Stanley Healthcare, in a press release. “While technology is only one component of a comprehensive security strategy, the unparalleled level of protection in the new Hugs solution provides peace of mind for parents, nurses, administrators and security staff.”
The ability to extend coverage throughout the hospital is important as campuses look to consolidate IT enterprises and overhaul legacy networks. More important is this statistic, provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: Nearly one of every five hospital abductions takes place away from the Mother-Baby unit.
In addition to expanded Wi-Fi coverage, the new Hugs solution offers more remote monitoring features for the Obstetrics Department, including automatic temperature monitoring of breast milk refrigeration units, blanket warmers and pharmaceutical cabinets; better asset tracking; better communication links so that staff can call for help for patients or themselves; and automated, round-the-clock hand hygiene compliance monitoring to help prevent infections.
Originally introduced in 1998, the Hugs solution is one of several launched on the AeroScout RTLS platform (the two companies joined forces last year), which can integrate with hospital information, communications and security and control systems. The Hugs system offers exit, tamper and supervision protection; mother-infant matching (through the Kisses solution); and auto-enrollment of infants. The system is in use in some 1,300 hospitals nationwide, officials said.
